Director: Martyn Pick
Year: 2022
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
After a disastrous experience at a show, a stand-up comic taunted by a rude heckler decides to help throw a Halloween party in order to lose focus on him and prepare for a major movie role, but the party descends into chaos when the guests start dying one by one and forces him to stop the killer.
Review:
This was a problematic enough genre effort. One of the few positives on display here is the setup into a slightly more psychological style of a slasher film than what would be expected. Since this one goes for the idea of the killer striking as a means of revenge for the heckling before finally twisting it around only after featuring the idea of calling him constantly with various heckles and sayings about his life. These factors serve this one quite well with the setup in the final half where he arrives at the party to begin dispatching the group in some by-the-numbers setups that offer some brutal kills and decent enough effects. The fact that they’re so oblivious to everything makes for a fun time that has a lot to like here with how fast and enjoyable they are at this point in the film. It all doesn’t amount to much but offers enough to like that it doesn’t become a total waste.
This one does have some drawbacks to it. One of the biggest issues is the rather discordant storyline that feels rather bizarre including the flashbacks to the comedian’s life in the middle of the slasher setup. The idea makes no sense to introduce this element at just random intervals in the film with the scenes of him shouting at baristas or the encounter at the poker table which are supposed to give us an idea of who he was for the movie adaptation being set up for him which gives an idea of the character for later and is generally fine enough. The idea of featuring these scenes where they are, though, is the main issue that disrupts the momentum here much like the scenes of him coming undone by the taunts into obvious physical outbursts. The psychological toll this takes is fascinating to watch but holds the slashing scenes back while it goes through these energy-draining scenes involving the group at the party or breaking down due to the heckler’s calls.
The other drawback on display here is the rather underwhelming and unimpressive killer that’s going around here. The psychological tricks he pulls are quite enjoyable and give him a slight edge, but very little of this one plays off that fear due to the flimsy clown mask being used, the unassuming hoodie they wear, and the overall unassuming physical presence that doesn’t scare or intimidate in the slightest. On top of that, the rampage makes no sense as the whole idea is to serve retribution for what happened that seems to come out of nowhere with little build-up to that point as everything gets twisted around with reveals that don’t have any impact on the plot at hand until then. They come off as an attempt at padding but aren’t much more than that, leaving this one highly unsatisfying and just plain lacking.
Overview: *.5/5
A generally disappointing slasher that gets some positive points to not be a complete waste but still is troubled by way too many flaws to be of much use elsewhere since they’re quite troublesome and detrimental overall. Those with more of a tolerance for those issues or curious about this one will be the main ones to check this out while most others should heed caution or outright ignore it.
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